Selling Out.

Today we did it. We took the boys to "Day Out With Thomas" You know, the ever present beloved blue tank engine. This flies in the face of our entire parenting philosophy. It's big box, it's commercial, it is marketed EVERYWHERE. It's television. But there we were on a warm Sunday morning, driving more than an hour to stand in front of a big plastic steam engine and pose for photos. The event had all the required preschool/toddler stations; bouncy train, temporary tattoos, video watching tent, hot dogs, popcorn and peanut butter sandwiches. However, ( and this is where I rationalize the complete sellout of our values...) the local tribe was having a salmon bbq. Mmmmmm....fry bread....smoked grilled salmon and the local hobbyist group had several large model train layouts going, and we got all six of us in one vehicle to get there. Oh, and we never even went into the video tent. Then there were the souvenirs....thankfully we made it out with just a few. A special Day Out caboose, a photo book ( already in heavy use) and a kaleidoscope. We passed on the backpacks( two kinds) the flatware, the t-shirts ( too many kinds to count) the toothbrushes, the lunch kits, the stickers, the books, the dvd's, the place mats, the twirly light up thingies, the flashlights, the caps, the whistles ( please! who thought of THAT) the shoes, socks and laces and a hundred other must have Thomas themed items. It's not that we are anti t.v. ok, well, we are anti t.v. but some does slip in. It's mostly that we are anti pre-scripted experiences and imaginations held hostage by marketing.

All in all everyone had a fine day, the weather was beautiful, the crowd thin until just before we left the company congenial and the wallets empty. The boys, especially Doodle really did get a kick out of seeing a real live, life sized Thomas. It was fun to watch them. Poor Doodle though was very sad to wave goodbye to Thomas. I am happy that they got to experience that kind of wonder. I am even happier that on the way home they were playing a game totally unrelated to the days events. Perspective, people, perspective. I know I take this whole parenting thing a little too seriously sometimes and it's good for me to let go of the reigns once in awhile and hop onto the commercial culture bandwagon, as long as I can come home.